Which Anti Virus, Firewall?

R8JimBob88

R8JimBob88

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In addition to my new computer thread, now comes the time to think about internet security!

I used to have Virgin PC guard on my XP machine, worked ace and loved it. Since moving to Vista though, PC guard no longer seems to be compatible :( It currently has Norton Antivirus on a 60 day trial and is using Windows defender as the firewall.

Personally, i'm not too keen on Norton. I think its such a huge program and costs a bomb to do what it does.

What else do you people use and what would you recomend? Ideally a free one would be nice but wouldnt mind spending a few quid on a decent one. I want a decent Anti-Virus and a Firewall. Will windows defender be ok for the firewall or is it worth upgrading?

Thankus very muchus
 
I use symantec AV and Zone Alarms firewall - never had an issue with the firewall and the AV works well, I know you don;t want to travel down the symantec/norton route but check out zone alarms
 
AVG Virus Guard. Takes up no room, self-updates, free. Not a whisper of a problem in 12 months. Brilliant.
 
For home=personal use there are free versions of anti-virus that are pretty good
AVG
Avast <- I use this one

For a firewall I'd recommend (again free for home=personal use):
ZoneAlarm
 
I used to use McAfee suite,,as I got it "free" via work, but that has gone away, and having made the move notice that the PC is much less sluggish.
 
AVG is the personal AV of choice. gets good reviews (although is slipping in the rankings) and as you wanted "free". be carefull on the download as it'll try to trick you into getting the full version which isn't as free.

Firewall: How do you connect to the net, through a router/modem? If so check the router to see if it has a firewall. A hardware firewall is so much better than than software. Zone alarm does its job but if you want to tweak your system in any way (i.e. host a website) it can become a nightmare - had a call recently from a relative who told me his firefox had stopped working - 2 days later we found it to be the remains of Zonealarm (yes "remains" as in he had uninstalled it 2 weeks before!). - Hardware FW is the way to go.
 
PLEASE don't use Norton. I've seen too many peoples computers get bogged down by Norton, including my own.

NOD32 is the best Anti Virus imo, I used it after researching the best anti virus on the web. I've used it for quite a while now and am very pleased with it.
 
I am using AVG, never no problems, I used to use Norton but it just slows everything down and there yearly updating procedure is terrible.
 
I used AVG for a long time but it failed to notice a virus on my system so I changed.

I now use Antivir (the personal edition is free for home use). Most magazine tests rate this as the best 'free' AV Program. The only thing is you don't get Virus checking on your email but most ISPs provide this anyway, and if you aren't sure about an email attachment DON'T CLICK ON IT!!!

I also use Spybot S&D for added protection against Malware / Trojans. I put this Antivir / Spybot combination on all the PCs with my Parents / Parents In Law, at home etc and have had no problems.
 
Mine was due for renewal, went for Upgrade to Norton 2008, all singing all dancing by the looks of it, Had Norton for years and seems good to me! :thumbs:
 
Grisoft AVG and you can build your own firewall here: http://www.smoothwall.org/ this is what I have you just use an old PC that you have knocking about the house!
 
Phil T said:
AVG Virus Guard. Takes up no room, self-updates, free. Not a whisper of a problem in 12 months. Brilliant.
Click to expand...

I second that. Even the free version does a good enough job - far better than Norton and far less invasive! It just gets on with the job. My PC has been virus free since new, and I have always had AVG Anti-Virus installed, alongside Zone Alarm Firewall.
 
I used to use Norton until I was introduced to the wonders of Avast!

I got rid of Norton and my computer sped up SO much!

Norton seems to use up so much of the computer's RAM, and runs so many programs in the background that it slows everything down!

Norton GoBack was all a bit of a mystery to me. Until one day, when I fired up the PC. It told me that 'Norton GoBack had become currupt' (magically overnight, when turned off). It then proceeded to delete and remove itself from my computer!


I know people that have been using Avast for ages and have never had a problem! Since swapping, my PC's beem running great, without problems!

And the best thing is, that it's free!
 
Without sounding like an advert for my company (again) I'd just like to remind you that traditional AV is fine for covering the majority of old school infections. However, signature based AV (ie those mentioned above) has effectively been dead in the water for at least 12 months.

The larger companies won't admit it but they really are helpless against the newer breeds of malware out there now.

If you're unsure then you need to run a scan using something which has a realtime database of infections (weekly/daily updates just don't cut it anymore).
 
Spent most of last night installing AVG anti-virus and AVG anti-spyware plus I went for the Comodo firewall. So far so good :D
 
The real trick with computer security is to not rely solely on your firewall or anti-virus/anti-spam utilities to protect you. A certain degree of common sense is also required, as is regular checking.

I note some people moan about Norton slowing their machines down but be aware that this isn't always a problem - the reason it could be slowing down is because it is checking your memory for viruses at the same time as your disk - not all virus vendors do this. Norton is a very comprehensive suite as is Trend, McAfee, Sophos etc.

My own experience is as a consultant and director of an IT security firm and my own home network is protected quite vastly - however it does not remove the need for common sense.
 
Vinny,

I'm not sure I agree with that. The MAIN reason why Norton slows the machine down is because it's so damn bloated. Symantec have a history of "bolting on" as opposed to recoding to ensure efficiency.

And then there's the fun you have when it comes to uninstalling the damn thing!
 
I agree about the uninstalling with Norton, however, Symantec Corporate Anti-Virus has been a win situation for us. I have a particular client with over 3,500 installations of the program and their network and systems work perfectly. I also used this for a while whilst testing and writing documentation for various security publications.

The MAIN thing is, regardless of what protection you have, common sense still has to prevail. I have come across many huge enterprises that try and tell me that they are adequately covered because they have Cisco this, Checkpoint that or SonicWALL the other as a firewall, and McAfee this or Sophos that and without common sense they are still at risk - as I have proved many a time.

note I did put the reason it could be slowing down in my post and I simply should hav written a reason

:)
 
The old Norton Internet Security used to b a memory hog, but Symantec have listened to their customers.

2007 version is by no means a hog.

I have it running on one of my test systems (I have 5 in my soho) and it's background RAM usage comes in at less than 5MB.

My USB missile launcher uses more than Norton.
 
All I'll say is that even 360 is known to suffer high resource usage due to continual email scanning (WHY is this even necessary?) and slow web browsing thanks to the somewhat nefarious activity of their toolbar. Add to that the fact that it's a 50 odd MB download just for the installer and then about the same for signatures and it's still a very large application.

But I do whole heartedly agree that common sense is key. Even so, I know some very level headed people that have been hit by drive by installs thinking that a traditional AV would keep them safe!

You have to remember that the whole point of malware these days is to make money. It's not in the author's interest to infect you and shout about it. They want to slip under the radar and use you. It's not like the days of the lovebug virus where it was all about kudos and shouting about how many people it infected / how fast.
 
Vinny said:
various security publications.

The MAIN thing is, regardless of what protection you have, common sense still has to prevail.
Click to expand...

I've had Mcafee , AVG etc on my PCs for years and never had them alert me to an infection / threat.


Maybe it's because I think before I click :help:



BUT my kids PC...

I've had to set the Security to Rottweiler Level :bang:
 
Sell it and by Mac Life will be sweet :D

However, I'd suggest the full, bought version of Zone Alarms AV/Firewall/Anti Spam.

Buy Cheap Buy Twice

or

Buy Quality!

Regards,
Carl.
 
I have McAfee total protection which runs out at the end of this month. They are charging me £51 to renew the subscription. Is there anyway i can dodge this charge or am i going to have to go down the 'Free' route?
 
Avast serves me very well on both my Lappy and Desktop PC and is no trouble at all ... :shrug: ... except the damn American accent on the update voice ... :suspect:





:p
 
Ok, i have just killed McAfee off and installed AVG Anti Virus and Zone Alarms. Do i need to dowload any anti spams or other stuff to make sure i'm proteted??
 
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